Read about Ezequiel Lisak's experiences at SCHOTT

Ezequiel Lisak

How did SCHOTT capture your interest?
And why did you choose SCHOTT?My first contact with Schott was through the UNITECH International Programme, when participating in the first joint module about Teamwork, Leadership and Culture at Politecnico di Milano in September 2007. The internationalization of the company together with its leading position in several markets as glass and specialty materials supplier captured my attention.
One year and a half later, after my exchange period at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg and written my master thesis with a telecom company in Stockholm, I started discussions with Schott for a challenging internship at the headquarters in Mainz, Germany.
The key factors for choosing Schott were the openness of Schott’s managers while discussing a position suitable for both the company and my career development, the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology for future products, the challenge of working in a German speaking environment, and the offer of being involved in different projects where I could combine both my Engineering and Business degrees.

What is your current job?My internship started within Business Development and Strategy for Advanced Optics (BU Advanced Materials), where I was lucky to participate in a key strategic project for the multinational concerning the processing of high-quality sapphire for high-end avionics applications. The inter-organizational dimension of the project involving American, French, Swiss, and German companies; participating in market intelligence, production plan forecasting and strategy analysis; visiting the potential production plant in Schott Switzerland for assessing machinery and plant investment requirements; and the involvement in the project from start to end offered me an invaluable understanding of the business.
Organizational changes in our department moved my internship towards Product Management within Advanced Optics, where I participated in three other projects: market analysis for radiation shielding glasses for nuclear power industry and high-end imaging medical equipment; state of technology for camera phones with focus on wafer level optics; and market research on concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) technology for solar energy.
Just to give an overview of the diverse tasks during this time, I have discussed with technology experts from research institutes and key players in the value chain concerning wafer level optics; presented internal business performance by analyzing in-house financial data; performed both internal and external market analysis; prepared the sales training material for Chinese colleagues attending the 8th China International Exhibition on Nuclear Power Industry 2009 celebrated in Beijing; co-prepared the strategy proposal for management in order to improve the current nuclear business and exploit new emerging opportunities; and performed market intelligence for optical systems used in concentrator photovoltaics technology.

What are the interesting aspects of your Job?The most interesting aspect of my job is being involved in different projects, which means I deal with different managers and colleagues, learn new technologies, understand matured and emerging industries, and get hands-on experience performing a broad range of tasks.
Communicating with people from different backgrounds and roles in and outside the company (directors, product managers, sales managers, engineers, physics, quality control managers, etc) is always interesting. Some meetings have involved travelling around Germany and Switzerland which is always fun! For instance, attending the trade fair LASER World of Photonics 2009 celebrated in Münich was a great experience.
Finally, living and working in a German environment is demanding but challenging! Learning the language while breathing the culture and the particular German business approach is a valuable experience!

How do you see your next role and future career opportunities at SCHOTT?From the above, it is easy to realise that my experience at Schott was very positive and has opened up several questions towards my career development. Today, I feel for challenging my telecommunication engineering skills by joining a graduate development program within information systems in the energy industry as my next career step. However, I will definitely think about Schott when taking new decisions about career opportunities in the future.
Thanks to the good relationship my managers and supervisors have built with me during the internship, I am sure we will keep in touch and discuss future opportunities at Schott! As a German colleague told me once, “Man sieht sich immer 2 Mal im Leben!“ which I like to translate into English as „Our paths will cross again“.